Abdel Nur Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Providing Material Support to the Conspiracy to Commit a Terrorist Attack at JFK Airport

Nur Provided Material Support by Introducing Plotters to Violent Islamic Radical

BROOKLYN, NY—Earlier today, in the Eastern District of New York, United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry sentenced Abdel Nur to 15 years in prison for providing material support to the conspiracy to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, by exploding fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the airport. Nur believed that the attack would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the New York economy, as well as the loss of numerous lives.

The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in New York.

On June 29, 2010, Abdel Nur pled guilty to providing material support to the plot to attack JFK Airport. A federal jury subsequently convicted Abdul Kadir and Russell Defreitas in July 2010 of engaging in the terrorist conspiracy. On December 15, 2010, Kadir was sentenced to life in prison. The court is scheduled to sentence Defreitas on February 17, 2011. A fourth alleged member of the plot, Kareem Ibrahim, faces trial on the same charges as Defreitas and Kadir.

The evidence established that Nur, a citizen of Guyana, provided material support to the plot by attempting to locate al Qaeda explosives expert Adnan Gulshair el Shukrijumah, and by introducing the plotters and presenting the plot to Yasin Abu Bakr, the notorious leader of the Trinidadian militant group Jamaat Al Muslimeen, who had previously engaged in violent terrorist attacks aimed at overthrowing the government of Trinidad and Tobago. The government's case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Marshall L.Miller, Jason A. Jones, Berit W. Berger, and Zainab Ahmad.

The charges against Ibrahim are only allegations, and Ibrahim is presumed innocent until proven guilty.